VZCZCXRO1790
PP RUEHAST
DE RUEHAK #3973/01 1881108
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071108Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7105
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEKDAI/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J-3/J-5//
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU//TCH//
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEUITH/TLO ANKARA TU
RUEHAK/USDAO ANKARA TU

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 003973 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KWMN TU
SUBJECT: OPINION POLL ON STATUS OF WOMEN IN SIX TURKISH 
PROVINCES REVEALS FAULTLINES 
 
 
ANKARA 00003973  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary and comment: The United Nations Joint Program 
to Promote and Protect Women and Girls' Human Rights in 
Turkey recently released a poll on the status of women in six 
cities.  The poll results reveal two major faultlines 
affecting attitudes towards women:  1) between Turkey's 
modern economic centers and underdeveloped provinces; and 2) 
between a woman's role in the public sphere and in private 
life. For example, while most Turks support women's equal 
rights and engagement in politics, many still believe that 
the woman's place is in the home or that it is acceptable for 
a man to cheat on his wife.  While somewhat limited in its 
scale, the poll illustrates that as development and education 
increase, values here tend to evolve from the more 
traditional to the modern.  End Summary and comment. 
 
---------------------------- 
Methodology and Demographics 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) The UN and Ankara Social Research Center (ANAR) 
surveyed 3,000 Turks of all ages from varying educational and 
socioeconomic backgrounds.  They concentrated on six cities 
where their program is active, including: 
 
-- Izmir:  the third largest city in Turkey and one of the 
most developed, on the Aegean coast; 
-- Nevsehir: a medium-sized city in central Anatolia; 
-- Trabzon: a port city on the Black Sea; 
-- Van: an underdeveloped city on the eastern border with 
Iran; 
-- Kars: a northeastern city near the border with Armenia; 
and 
-- Sanliurfa, an underdeveloped city with a substantial Arab 
population near the southeastern border with Syria. 
 
-------------------- 
Women's Human Rights 
-------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) On human rights in general, men and women are both 
about 80% aware that Turkish legislation provides for women's 
equal rights under the law.  However, men show a higher 
percentage of awareness than women across all six provinces. 
In Sanliurfa, for example, only 73.5% of women are aware of 
equal rights, which the analysis attributes to the high level 
of women's illiteracy in the region (38.4%).  At the same 
time, however, when asked whether a man cheating on his wife 
may be tolerated, the responses showed an attitudinal change 
between general human rights and traditional values.  Almost 
50% of women in Sanliurfa and 67% of men in Kars, for 
example, say a man cheating on his wife may be tolerated. 
Trabzon and Nevsehir men and women had the lowest percentages 
of tolerance; 11% and 26.7%, respectively. 
 
------------------------------------- 
Violence and Protection from Violence 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) The poll differentiates between honor killings and 
domestic violence.  Both men and women agree that honor 
killings are crimes against humanity.  However, more men 
(17.4%) than women (8.5%) approve of the practice.  In 
Sanliurfa, the approval of this practice is highest (26.8% 
for women and 30.5% for men), which the analysis correlates 
with the high regional occurrence of this crime.  Tolerance 
for the crime is lowest in Izmir (1.1% of women and 8.1% of 
men). 
 
¶5. (U) One-fifth of all women polled report being victims of 
domestic violence, which in 73% of cases they reported as 
coming from husbands.  While women do not legitimize 
violence, attitudes on rejection of violence vary.  In 
Sanliurfa, only 32.7% of women reject violence, as opposed to 
as many as 81.7% in Kars.  At the same time, four-fifths of 
all women (Sanliurfa being the highest with 95%) deem the 
opening of shelters imperative.  Although legal protection 
provides for removal of the perpetrator of violence from the 
house, women can also become victimized in this process as it 
often removes the bread winner from the family. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
ANKARA 00003973  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
Improvement of Local Administration and Services 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶6. (U) Women in Turkey think there should be more women 
represented in the local government, but very few are aware 
of the services already offered for women by the local 
administration.  In provinces where illiteracy is high, women 
demand vocational courses and literacy courses most.  In 
Izmir, women know the kinds of services on offer and make the 
highest ratio (18.8%) of direct requests for service.  Eighty 
percent of women say they would cast a vote for female 
representatives, with ratios exceeding 85% in Nevsehir, Van, 
Kars and Trabzon.  More than two-thirds of women in Nevsehir, 
Van, Trabzon and Kars, and approximately half in Izmir and 
Sanliurfa would vote for a candidate sensitive to women's 
issues.  On average, more than half of the men stated the 
same opinion. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Participation in Decision-Making Processes 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶7. (U) The survey confirmed previous poll results of high 
voting rates for women, with Izmir the highest with 80%. 
Two-thirds to three-fourths of women in all six provinces 
would support women candidates in the elections, with 
Nevsehir leading at 78.3%.  In similar and actually higher 
numbers, men also stated that they would support women 
candidates.  Between one-fifth and one-third of women stated 
an interest in entering politics, but most were self-critical 
and reported lack of education (Izmir), lack of interest 
(Trabzon) and passivity (Kars) as reasons for staying out. 
Awareness of women's organizations, which could help mobilize 
women participation in politics is very low, highest in Izmir 
(27.6%) and lowest in Sanliurfa (7%). 
 
--------------------------- 
Employment and Working Life 
--------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) Women who think that a woman's place is in the home 
prevail in Sanliurfa, Van, and Nevsehir, while provinces such 
as Izmir, Trabzon and Kars show lower attachment to the 
traditional family structure.  Men across all provinces are 
generally more likely to support women staying home. 
Participation of urban women in the labor force is relatively 
low in Turkey; 17.3% in Sanliurfa and 24.5% in Izmir. 
However, provincial and generational differences do play a 
factor.  While restriction by the husband and family-related 
obligations were the leading reasons stated for not working 
in Sanliurfa (73.6%) and Nevsehir (57.1%), in Izmir (24.9%) 
and Kars (45.7%) women cited failure to find a job as the 
leading reason.  The number of women who want vocational 
training also varies along provincial lines: in Sanliurfa 
(62%), Nevsehir (58.8%) and Van (55%) women are mostly not 
interested, while in Izmir, 51.7% wanted training.  Regarding 
training, young women (15-24 and 25-34 age group) choose 
computer classes first while older women (35-44 and 55-64 age 
group) prefer tailoring and carpet weaving courses, 
suggesting the younger generation is more willing to 
participate in the social and economic life outside the home. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Family and Inter-Family Relations 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (U) The report reveals significant differences between 
provinces in the number of children and identifies the 
educational level of women as the most important determining 
factor.  In Sanliurfa, 26% of women have three or four 
children, while 41.2% have four or more compared to 12% and 
0.9 %, respectively, in Izmir.  The ratio of families not 
sending their daughters to school is 5-6 % for all provinces, 
but reaches 15.6 % in Sanliurfa.  The survey indicates that 
financial problems are the main reason for not sending girls 
to school.  These financial problems stem from both the 
removal of extra labor from the home and costs related to 
uniforms and books that families must bear.  In terms of 
family planning, over 70% of women in all provinces received 
information and assistance from healthcare institutions. 
However, in Sanliurfa and Van, respondents indicated the 
 
ANKARA 00003973  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
spouse and family as the informational source.  The divorce 
rate is quite low in Turkey.  Between two-thirds and 
three-fourths of all men and women agreed with the statement 
that divorced women are excluded from society. 
 
--------------- 
Recommendations 
--------------- 
 
¶10. (U) The report makes several broad recommendations: 
 
-- increase local administration services available and 
accessible to women; 
 
-- heighten awareness about existing legislation regarding 
women's protection from violence and build more 
shelters for battered women; 
 
-- ease the burden on women of family care by creating homes 
for the elderly; 
 
-- open special credit cards for women to help them learn how 
to manage a household budget; 
 
-- create computer classes for training for employment, 
increasing awareness of NGOs and their activities and using 
the internet to allow women to ask difficult questions in 
private they might otherwise be reluctant to ask. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON